Sony shuts down WipEout Studio

Sad news for fans of Sony’s futuristic pod-racer; Sony’s confirmed its shut down Studio Liverpool – once Psygnosis – the developers responsible for its evergreen WipEout series. Worse still is that it’s cancelled all of the studio’s projects – and could have sounded the death knell for the series as a whole.

What began as a rumour on GR Arcade’s forums has been confirmed to be true – with Sony issuing a statement on the studio’s demise.

“As part of SCE Worldwide Studios, we do regular reviews to ensure that the resources we have can create and produce high quality, innovative and commercially viable projects in an increasingly competitive market place. As part of this process, we have reviewed and assessed all current and planned projects for the short and medium term and have decided to make some changes to our European Studios.

It has been decided that Liverpool Studio should be closed. Liverpool Studio has been an important part of SCE Worldwide Studios since the outset of PlayStation, and have contributed greatly to PlayStation over the years. Everyone connected with Liverpool Studio, past and present, can be very proud of their achievements.

However, it was felt that by focusing our investment plans on other Studios that are currently working on exciting new projects, we would be in a stronger position to offer the best possible content for our consumers. Our Liverpool Facility will continue to operate, housing a number of other vital WWS!E and SCEE Departments.

This should not take anything away from the great work WWS are doing and the incredible games and services that we have made, and continue to make.”

I’m pretty upset by this. WipEout HD (and its subsequent expansions) is one of my favourite PSN games – and their mobile efforts both on the PSP and the Vita have been excellent. It’s a studio that’s been around for 30 years, having been responsible for such great games as Lemmings, Colony Wars, Barbarian, Shadow of the Beast and of course, WipEout. Their last release was the rather excellent WipEout 2048 for the Vita – one of the system’s strongest launch titles.

Editor. I'm old, grumpy and more than just a little cynical. One day, I found myself in possession of a NES, and a copy of Super Mario Bros 3. It was that game that made me realise that games were more than just toys to idly while away time - they were capable of being masterpieces. I'm here now, looking for more of those masterpieces.

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